NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI/MADURAI, JAN 15
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea challenging the Madras High Court order for conducting Jallikattu in various districts of Tamil Nadu, under the supervision of monitoring committees headed by a retired district judge. A Bench of Chief Justice L Nageswara Rao asked the petitioner to approach the Chennai Bench of Madras High Court and dismissed the petition after which the petitioner withdrew the plea. The plea was filed by a farmer AK Kannan.
The petitioner demanded that Jallikattu must be conducted under the supervision of the district collector. The Madurai Bench of the High Court had ordered the constitution of a committee headed by a retired district judge and comprising district collector, commissioner of police and Madurai Corporation commissioner to conduct Avaniyapuram Jallikattu on January 15.
Jallikattu is organised in rural areas of Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal, the harvest festival. The Supreme Court (SC) in 2014 banned ‘Jallikattu’ after a plea was filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) but the state government insisted that Jallikattu was a crucial part of its culture and identity.
The ban was later lifted in January 2017 with an amendment to the law after massive protests in Chennai.
Avaniyapuram conducts jallikkattu
The Jallikattu began at Avaniyapuram in Madurai at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday. As many as 644 bulls were allowed to take part from Madurai and its neighbouring districts. A total number of 610 bull tamers were allowed to participate after the medical screening.
A total of 71 participants were injured, of them, six had sustained severe injuries and were referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital and were discharged later.
A total of nine rounds were conducted and 75 bulls for each round were released. After receiving clearance from the Animal Husbandry Department, a total of 644 bulls were allowed to take part from different parts of Madurai and nearby districts.
With Avaniyapuram being the first in the series of Jallikattu events in the district, tourists from across the globe armed with cameras took part in the festivities. Public thronged in large numbers to witness the bulls coming of the Vadivasal.
A bull belonging to Anuradha from Pudukottai was adjudged the winner. Tamer Vijay who caught 14 bulls was given a two-wheeler as prize.
Jallikattu will take place at Palamedu on January 16 and Alanganallur on January 17.
(With inputs from R Arivanantham, Chennai)
